But sometimes it's a good hurt
by Kitsune Heart
Summary: VERY dark one-shot. Fowl and Short's relationship has progressed, but something is utterly wrong. Only an outsider could really see what was going on, and he realized what was happening only when it was far too late.


**But sometimes it's a good hurt**

About time you all called me in here, seeing as I'm the prime witness. It's not like she's telling you much, right now. Tell me, have the medic warlocks finally given up and handed her off to N°1, or are they still insisting that they can fix things? Typical. They'll let her _die_ before they admit that they don't know what he did to her.

Huh? What was that? Oh. Right. Lieutenant Chix Verbil, formerly of LEPRetrieval, currently stationed on the surface-side of E1 as the Resident Officer.

When did it begin? I'm not sure how to really take that question. Back in winter 2002, I suppose... Oh. Alright. If you want.

Let's see...I should have realized that something was wrong four months ago, just a few hours after it started, but it took me a while to see the effect it was having on her. By the time I noticed, it was far too late, and all I could do was hold her and pray that it was the end, even though I knew that the end was far from a "happily ever after."

I was, as usual, on duty at E1, watching as fairies came and went during the full moon, excited to perform the Ritual and then feeling high off running hot when they came back. It was a warm summer evening, with most of the fairies coming back sporting a light sweat and panting slightly.

Captain Holly Short, however, came back from her visit to the surface absolutely flushed, wiping sweat from her face and gasping. That's what caught my attention. I wasn't sure I'd ever seen Short so poorly composed, even from her badly executed showdown with the troll at the first Fowl siege. I decided to leave my desk...purely to see if she needed assistance, mind. She looked like she could use a little support until she was on the shuttle home.

"Well, you look rather blown," I said to her, and she seemed pretty startled. Wherever her mind had been, it certainly wasn't in the shuttleport.

She just looked at me for a while, as if she couldn't remember who I was. Then she gave this little shake of her head and said, "Oh, Lieutenant. I suppose I am a bit...er...overwhelmed."

It was such an odd thing for her to say. Holly Short didn't get overwhelmed. Or at least the Holly Short all of us knew didn't. I couldn't let that little mystery go, so I asked her what had happened.

Her face turned redder and she couldn't look at me for a while, but she didn't look ashamed. In fact, she seemed to be trying to control herself and keep in that little bouncing thing she does whenever she's really happy. It's cute, but...distracting. She did manage to remain mostly still and said, as nonchalant as you please, "Artemis and I finally...um..." Then she couldn't continue.

It's not like they were a big secret, so I wasn't surprised. Foaly occasionally sends me out to do a surveillance sweep on Fowl Manor, and Captain Short is there half the time I go by. I was a bit shocked that she would even think of telling me, but she was obviously too excited to keep it a secret for long. I mean...you all saw the tabloids that week. She tells Frond about their night together, and then the rest of the Lower Elements knew about it the next day.

The next full moon, she was back up the shuttle and out of the port with only a "hey" and a wave. I took a moment to inspect her records, but she was approved for another surface visa to perform the Ritual. That was when the goblins and demons were clashing, and a lot of officers were putting out all of their magic during the suppressing operations. I had a dozen officers up doing a second Ritual and had been told by Commander Kelp that this would be coming, so I didn't think twice.

When she came back at dawn—many hours after she _should_ have completed the Ritual, but that's Captain Short for you—I also didn't think about it...much. What? Oh, well...you know...you'd think about them, too, if you saw the way she was staggering about. That bow-legged, just-had-a-wild-night walk. She had the...funniest smile on her face, but she looked exhausted. I had to rib her just a _little_.

She seemed just as startled as last time, and it took her even longer to focus on me. When she did, she was obviously drifting in and out of focus, thinking back to a few hours ago. I asked her the normal things you ask to tease someone who just got laid. "Was he _happy_ to see you?" "Did you have a _good time_?" Things like that. She answered me, but only in a few words. Before I could find out much, her shuttle arrived and Short returned to Haven.

The next full moon, she was up again. With normal leave, again. This time, I finally noticed that something was...off. You've seen the vids of Short. She's...vibrant. Dark-skinned, flaming hair, and those amazing eyes. I'll tell you, no one would say it to her face, but every guy in the LEP has had a few fantasies about those eyes. This time, though...her skin was getting a little lighter, and her hair had a bit of...ash, I guess, to the color. And her eyes...the blue one was fine. Shining, really. But her hazel one...it looked like the brown was being diluted. The green that was left looked...kind of like a smashed leaf on concrete. She was out of the port before I could stop her for a talk. Once again, she didn't come back until shortly before dawn.

The time, she really was staggering. I went to help her, but she waved me off, took a few breaths, and was standing steady again. "Just an intense night, Lieutenant," she said, again taking her seat at departures. I got her a few nutrition bars from my quarters and made her eat them, and it seemed to help. She got some color back to her skin, and I thought I even saw her eyes brightening by the time the shuttle arrived. I figured she was just...over-excited about her visits. I mean...wouldn't _you_ be, if you got a new lover and realized you'd be _lucky_ to get laid once a month? I don't think I'd sleep for a few days before seeing them, and I _certainly_ wouldn't sleep when we _did_ have a night together.

The next month...I _knew_ something was wrong. Short doesn't have much weight on her. She's almost pure muscle, so she was thin to begin with. That time, though...you really saw it in her hands. You could see the veins on the back of her hands, and the knuckles stuck out. She was shaking a bit, too, and I tried to stop her from leaving the port, but she just put on her wing rigging and was out of the door before I could do anything.

This time, when she came back, it was an hour past dawn. The sun had obviously taken quite a lot of her magic away, but that didn't seem to bother her. Why would it? It meant she was more likely to get another round of surface leave. It seemed like she took half of my stores of nutrition bars, and she ate them nonstop until the shuttle arrived. I asked the stewardess about her the next time she was on the surface. She said Captain Short got into her seat, strapped in, and snored all the way to Haven. She had to be slapped a few times to wake up. That didn't please her, apparently.

The fifth time...was the last time. By then, late summer had gone, as had fall, and it was now winter. It was snowing that full moon, so a lot of fairies had opted to perform the Ritual in the southern hemisphere. I was enjoying a calm night, chatting with Nimbus, when Short came up on a nearly empty shuttle. We were both surprised, and Nimbus was obviously too shocked to think clearly. She was...a ghastly sight.

I guess she looked like she'd lost...probably a whole stone. Like I said, she wasn't a very well-built woman to begin with, so she lost about a quarter of her weight. In a month. She was wearing the smallest elf suit available, but it was loose in her arms and legs. She didn't have bags under her eyes...no, they looked like someone had taken two un-guarded punches straight at the sockets. And her irises...the blue was fine, just like last time, but the hazel was...grey. No. That's wrong. It was white. Completely white. In fact, the pupil itself seemed to be fading, as well.

By the time I recovered, she had put on her helmet and was out of the port. This time, when I checked her file, I saw that she didn't have surface leave. I'm not sure how she got a flight up with an unapproved visa, and neither did Foaly, when I called. The centaur seemed really relieved I'd seen her, but he kept asking me where she was going. I asked him shouldn't he know that based on her suit? But he said she had cut off everything but vitals. He seemed pretty mystified about how she managed that, but I guess Fowl must have helped her on a previous trip, and she just made sure she picked out the right suit.

Not long after Foaly said vitals was all he had, those also disappeared, starting with her helmet feed, and then to her suit. Well...it doesn't take much imagination to realize that she had taken off her helmet, then her suit, and...ahem.

In any other situation, Foaly probably would have sounded amused, but now his whinnies were shrill. He just wanted to know where she was going.

Well...that was obvious enough to me. I told Foaly about Fowl and Short's relationship. Foaly must see that girl as a little sister or something, because he went off the deep end, braying about how Fowl was dangerous and she had been spending too much time talking with him and she was letting herself waste away.

Letting herself waste away...

He was wrong.

We didn't start to really worry until three hours after dawn. It may have been cold, but there were still plenty of tourists outside the Hill. Foaly was demanding that I go get her, but Commander Kelp had called me, by now. He wanted me out there the second it was safe, but _only_ when it was safe. So I waited until a storm started, making the Mud Men leave. Unfortunately, that also made _my_ life generally miserable. I don't fly too well with a wing rigging—I keep wanting to use my own wings, even though they're not good for long flights, and that makes maneuvering difficult—so it took me about an hour to get used to the controls and get to Fowl Manor.

Artemis Fowl must have done something to get his family out of the Manor. Even Butler was gone. I'm really not sure how he pulled that one off, seeing as the big man is practically glued to the boy, but maybe he thought he should give the couple some time alone. He must not have seen Short in a long time, though, or else he would have known that something was wrong.

Since N°1 removed the curse that created the prohibition on entering Mud Man dwellings, I went in the second I had done a scan of the Manor to see if there were any traps. All of the lights in the Manor were off, but a lot of light came in through the windows from the moon. The darkness didn't matter, though. I knew from my thermals that Short and Fowl were in his bedroom. I went in through the front entrance, shielded, and made my way up the stairs.

He...hadn't even bothered to close the door. It was like he was waiting for someone to come get him. Fowl was sitting on the edge of his bed and Short...

Look, do I really have to talk about this part? Can't I just skip to...d'arvit. Fine. Whatever.

The captain was in his lap. She had also...she had also removed her one-piece, so she was...nude. She had her...legs...around his lap, and...

Look, really, this isn't...come on! Can't she have some privacy, here? They're already sticking every needle and tube in all of Haven through her, and now you want to know what _Fowl _shoving in her? Fine! They were having sex! Fowl was fucking her!

But...it was...like she was asleep. Her arms were around his neck, but it looked like he had just flipped them over his shoulders for convenience. He had his arms around her back, crossing over each other so he could hold her to his chest, and his nails were digging into her shoulders. Blood was trickling down her back. I don't think she had actually performed the Ritual on this visit, because she wasn't healing. She must have just left the port and went right to him.

The lack of magic was part of what had made her deteriorate so much. The other part...was him.

He...looked at me. Looked past her shoulder and straight at me in the doorway. He seemed...amused. The bastard always seems amused, but he almost looked happy to see me. He didn't even stop...performing when he spoke.

"They've sent you to fetch the captain, then?"

I was...unnerved, to say the least, but I said "yes." Fowl just laughed—it was a very low noise, coming from deep in his chest—and bit at her neck. He didn't break the skin, but it left a mark. A bruise. A big one.

"You want her now? Really? Look at her." Then he let his arms down, placing them on her hips. Still...moving.

She just flopped back, hanging off the edge of the bed, held by his grip on her hips. Her hands were open and her fingers brushed the floor with each...thrust. Her eyes were wide, but I don't think she was even conscious, because she didn't focus on anything. Her own eye had finally gone completely white, except for thick red veins all over. Her blue eye was...glowing. Her mouth was open, too. Everything on her was...withered. It was like looking at a mummy. A poorly preserved mummy.

"Let her go, Fowl," I said, and I aimed my neutrino at him.

Fowl looked at the gun. Then he shrugged and removed his nails from her thin skin—which began to bleed immediately—and leaned back on the bed.

She just slid to the floor. If she hadn't been already hanging half off the bed, I think she would have fallen the entire way to the floor without waking up and would have smashed her head open. Instead, she just seemed to...pool at his feet.

I ran forward at once and pulled her to me. She was so _cold_. I can't even begin to describe it. You've all held ice before, right? Have any of you put your hands in a bowl of ice water? Well...just touching Captain Short with my hands was enough to make my entire body feel that way. I didn't shiver, but it felt like my entire body was forgetting what warmth was_ like_. I knew I couldn't leave her, and I've felt some odd things in my time on the force, so I just gritted my teeth and gathered her up.

I could feel...every bump in her spine. Every vein in her legs. She was breathing and her blood was pumping, but she was doing both far too fast. I thought she would seize or have a heart attack at any moment.

I looked up at Fowl, but he just smiled and waived me off, like he was dismissing a servant. Then he calmly put...himself away and stood, going to the window behind his bed to look at the moon.

I didn't need any more permission. I wrapped Short in a sheet of cam foil and was out of there like a shot. It only took me a few minutes to get back to E1, now that I was used to flying again. I went to my quarters right away and put the captain in a spare pair of sweatpants and my winter jacket. Then I got out a few emergency thermal blankets and all of my normal covers. I wrapped both of us up in them all. My back was sweating like you wouldn't believe, but my front, where I was touching her, ached with the cold. I still had my suit and helmet on, so Foaly called me up every so often. He had seen everything and said a patrol was on its way. Something was up with Fowl and he needed to be contained.

When the patrol arrived, I came out of my quarters, still holding Short in my arms, and looked them over. Commander Kelp, Wing Commander Vinyáya, Major Ash Vein, and about a dozen other officers I didn't recognize were in the squad. Before they could take off, I jumped forward, grabbing Vinyáya's arm. I told her she would be in danger. She seemed offended, then she looked at the captain. She nodded and let the rest of the squad—all males—go on ahead. We went back to my quarters, which had the heat turned to max, and all three of us wrapped up in the blankets. Between Vinyáya and me, we seemed to give Short enough warmth to come back around. She wasn't coherent, at first, but the first real word she said...was "Artemis."

The squad was back in a few hours. I told Vinyáya that we should stay inside, but she said she had to escort Short back to Haven. She assured me they would be taking a separate shuttle from Fowl. Even before they knew, they wanted to keep those two separate. Vinyáya and Kelp weren't sure what Short would do to save him. I don't think she could have got away from us...but people are known to do extraordinary things when someone they...gods, was it love? Was Short..._is_ she in love with Fowl? I hope not. If she is, I'm not sure she'll ever get better. He'll be right.

...what? What do I mean "He'll be right?" I...okay. Let me continue.

When Fowl was brought in, Captain Short seemed to really wake up. She held her hand out to him, but she didn't even have the strength to keep her arm out for more than a second before it fell. She said his name and tried to struggle out of our grip, but Vinyáya just wrapped her arms around the captain and dragged her into a small shuttle. They took off for the underground just a minute or two later.

I didn't know what to do, so I began walking to Commander Kelp, thinking I would have to debrief _him_ instead of the _full Council_. To get to him, though, I had to walk by Fowl. He was so weighed down by officers that I didn't think about him...until his arm shot out and he grabbed my wrist. His nails bit into my skin and he pulled until I fell to my knees, right in front of his face.

And he said...he said...

"Don't think you've saved her, Lieutenant. You can keep me locked up and you can keep us apart for the rest of her life...but she is _mine_. She will _always be MINE_."

Then he just let me go. I couldn't even talk to Commander Kelp, after that. I just went back to my quarters and put in for leave from my post. I...needed some time to think. To recover. Then _you_ all bring me in for a full Council interrogation. And that's it. All up to date. Nothing left to say.

I...what do I think...he...is?

A vampire? No. Nothing so...normal. Nothing so common for Artemis Fowl. I'm not sure if he's always been what he is now, or if this is a recent change or...I don't know, okay? But I've heard of his kind before. It's the kind of monster your parents don't want you to hear about until you're all grown up. The kind that takes...a part of you. He took Short's life force. He took it by..._taking_ _her_. By luring her to his Manor and seducing her and...well. Yes.

What do I think he is? Something like the vampire legends, but much rarer. Something so much more dangerous, because all you can do...is _want_ to be a victim.

An incubus.

* * *

**Story inspired by "Love Hurts" by Incubus. Bad joke, I know.**


End file.
